Enrico Cerulli (15 February 1898 - 19 September 1988) was an Italian scholar of

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali ...

and Ethiopian studies, a

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and a

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or interna ...

Biography

Cerulli was born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1898. He wrote his doctoral

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144 ...

at the University of Naples Federico II on the traditional law of the

. At the same time, he studied

Ethio-Semitic languages Ethiopian Semitic (also Ethio-Semitic, Ethiosemitic, Ethiopic or Abyssinian) is a family of languages spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. They form the western branch of the South Semitic languages, itself a sub-branch of Semitic, part of th ...

under

Francesco Gallina Franco Gallina (1 January 1945 – 5 July 2021) was an Italian footballer who played as a forward, most notably in the Serie A and the North American Soccer League. Career Gallina played in the Serie D in 1962 with Casertana F.C. where he as ...

, and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

Islamic studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

under

Carlo Alfonso Nallino Carlo Alfonso Nallino (18 February 1872 – 25 July 1938) was an Italian orientalist. Biography Nallino was born in Turin, and studied literature under Italo Pizzi at the University of Turin. From 1896 he taught in the Istituto Universi ...

and Giorgio Levi Della Vida at the

Regio Istituto Orientale Regio (pl. ''regiones'') is the Latin word for ‘region’ and the Italian word for ‘royal’ It may refer to: *Regiopolis, a concept for urban centers in between metropolitan areas. Ancient toponymy * Regiones of Augustan Italy, the departmen ...

(later Istituto Universitario Orientale, today Università di Napoli "L'Orientale").Ricci 2003, p. 708b. Cerulli is also renowned for his studies on the Latin and Old French translation of the Arabic ''

Kitab al-Miraj The ''Kitab al-Mi'raj'' (Arabic: كتاب المعراج "Book of the Ascension") is a book by al-Qushayri (died 1072) concerning the ''Miraj'', that is, Muhammad's ascension into Heaven following his miraculous one-night journey from Mecca to Jer ...

'', a famous

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

book concerned with

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...

's ascension into

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

(known as the '' Mi'raj''), following his miraculous one-night journey from

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

(the ''Isra''). The book's Islamic depictions of

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

are believed by some scholars, including Cerulli, to have been a major influence on

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

's 14th century masterpiece, the

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...

. Between January 1939 and June 1940, Cerulli was Governor of Scioa (

Shewa Shewa ( am, ሸዋ; , om, Shawaa), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa (''Scioà'' in Italian), is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital A ...

) and later of

Harar Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...

, two provinces of

Italian East Africa Italian East Africa ( it, Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the S ...

. He also headed the political office for East Africa in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...

. The restored regime of Haile Selassie I approached the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

in 1948 to have him tried for war crimes, along with nine others. However, the UN commission agreed to call him as a witness only. The Ethiopian government then dropped charges but barred him permanently from entering Ethiopia.Pankhurst 1999, p. 124, 128. Later, from 1950 to 1954, Cerulli served as the Italian Ambassador to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Finally he was named President of

Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Works

* 1922: ''Folk-literature of the Galla of Southern Abyssinia''. Cambridge, MA. * 1930-1933: ''Etiopia Occidentale (dallo Scioa alla frontiera del Sudan). Note del viaggio, 1927-1928''. 2 Vols. Roma. * 1931: ''Documenti arabi per la storia dell'Etiopia''. Roma: G. Bardi. * 1936: ''Studi etiopici''. Vol. I: ''La lingua e la storia di Harar''. Roma: Istituto per l'Oriente. * 1936: ''Studi etiopici''. Vol. II: ''La lingue e la storia dei Sidamo''. Roma: Istituto per l'Oriente. * 1938: ''Studi etiopici''. Vol. III: ''Il linguaggio dei Giangerò ed alcune lingue Sidama dell'Omo (Basket, Ciara, Zaissè)''. Roma; Istituto per l'Oriente. eprinted: 1963* 1943: ''Il Libro etiopico dei Miracoli di Maria e le sue fonti nelle letterature del Medio Evo latino''. Roma. * 1943-1947: ''Etiopi in Palestina: storia della comunità etiopica di Gerusalemme''. 2 vols. Roma: Libreria dello Stato. * 1949: ''Il 'Libro della Scala' e la questione delle fonti arabo-spagnole della Divina Commedia''. Città del Vaticano. * 1951: ''Studi etiopici''. Vol. IV: ''La lingua Caffina''. Roma: Istituto per l'Oriente. * 1956: (ed.) ''Atti di Krestos Samra''. (

Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium The Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium is an important multilingual collection of Eastern Christian texts with over 600 volumes published since its foundation in 1903 by the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and the Catholic Univ ...

, 163–164; Scriptores Aetiopici, 33–34) Louvain. * 1957-1964: ''Somalia: scritti vari editi ed inediti''. 3 vols. * 1958: ''Storia della letteratura etiopica''. Milano. rd. ed. 1968 * 1958-1960: ''Scritti teologici etiopici dei secoli XVI-XVII''. 2 vols. Città del Vaticano. * 1959: (ed.) ''Atti di Giulio di Aqfahs''. (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 190–191; Scriptores Aetiopici, 37–38) Louvain. * 1971: (with: Fabrizio A. Pennacchietti) ''Testi neo-aramaici dell’Iran settentrionale''. Napoli : Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli. * 1971: ''L'Islam di ieri e di oggi''. Roma. Istituto per l'Oriente

Notes

References

* Pankhurst, Richard (1999). "Italian Fascist War Crimes in Ethiopia", in: ''Northeast African Studies'' 6/1-2 (New series), pp. 83–140. * Ricci, Lanfranco (1988

990 Year 990 ( CMXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Al-Mansur, ''de facto'' ruler of Al-Andalus, conquers the Castle of Montemor-o-Velho (mode ...

. "Enrico Cerulli", in: ''Rassegna di Studi Etiopici'' 32, pp. 4–19; "Bibliografia" (by Gianfrancesco Lusini), pp. 20–44; "errata-corrige", 33 (1989

991 Year 991 ( CMXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events * March 1: In Rouen, Pope John XV ratifies the first Truce of God, between Æthelred the Unready and Richard I of ...

, pp. 197–198. * Ricci, Lanfranco (2003). "Cerulli, Enrico", in: S. Uhlig et al. (eds.), ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica'' Vol. 1: A-C (Wiesbadn: Harrassowitz), pp. 708b-709b. * Mallette, Karla (2010). European Modernity and the Arab Mediterranean. Pennsylvania University Press: Philadelphia * Celli, Andrea (2013). ''Dante e l'Oriente. Le fonti islamiche nella storiografia novecentesca''. Roma: Carocci, pp. 25–70.

External links

* «Enrico Cerulli» (Filippo Bertotti)

in:

Encyclopaedia Iranica An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerulli, Enrico 1898 births 1988 deaths Ethiopianists Heads of universities in Italy Writers from Naples Somalists University of Naples Federico II alumni Ambassadors of Italy to Iran Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy

Biography

Works

See also

Notes

References

External links